A Phonetic Typology of Consonant-Tone Interaction

2016 Fiscal Year Research-status Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K02641
• Research Institution: International Christian University
• Principal Investigator: 李 勝勲 国際基督教大学, 教養学部, 准教授 (20770134)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: Tone / Phonetics / Xitsonga / SiSwati / Phonology / Fieldwork / Acoustics

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

From April to July 2016, research materials were compiled by consulting with native speaking linguists at University of Venda. Data was then collected in August 2016 during a one-week trip to Thohoyandou, South Africa. At University of Venda, with the help of three assistants (Dumazi Davemore, Clementinah Burheni and Fanuel Ndhlovu), I was able to collect acoustic data for the current project from 13 Xitsonga speakers and 12 SiSwati speakers. The data consists of words produced in isolation (5 times each) as well as words produced in a carrier sentence (3 times each). Upon returning from South Africa, 3 undergraduate assistants who had trainings in phonetics have started annotating the Xitsonga data. During each semester, we held weekly meetings in order to first show them the process of annotating, and then to make sure that everyone is on track. Assistants have been learning how to use Praat script and how to annotate language data that is unknown to them. At the moment, most Xitsonga data has been annotated for further analysis. In Year 1, an Electroglottagraph (EGG) machine was purchased in order to be used for articulatory fieldwork. An expert in EGG held a workshop in October 6-7, 2016 in order to provide expert consulting for the use of the EGG machine in the field. Two consultants, who are part of this Kakenhi grant, also presented how to interpret EGG data using the matlab programs. This workshop allowed the PI to gain insights into bringing the bulky EGG machine to South Africa. It also provided tools for data analysis after the data collection is completed.

Current Status of Research Progress

3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.

Reason

The research is slightly delayed because of the delay in purchasing the EGG machine. Originally, EGG data collection was planned in Year 1, but the data collection will not be conducted in Year 2 during the field trip in November 2017. Furthermore, the annotation process has been slower than expected. Once the annotation is completed, acoustic analyses will be conducted.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

Acoustic data analysis will be completed before the end of the summer 2017. Based on results from this acoustic analysis, a stimuli list for the EGG data collection in November 2017 will be compiled. During the fieldwork at University of Venda, Xitsonga and SiSwati data will be collected. After the return from the field, Japanese EGG data will be collected. In Year 3, perception studies based on the findings from acoustic and EGG studies will be conducted in order to uncover how speakers with depressor consonants show interaction between consonants and tone.

Causes of Carryover

The working hours by assistants were a bit different from the originally budgeted plan.

Expenditure Plan for Carryover Budget

It will be used for working hours for work in FY2017 by assistants.